Royal fans camping out on the Mall to see King Charles have their tents and possessions STOLEN

The Mall in London is at the heart of a royal frenzy today and is fast becoming a sea of tents – dubbed ‘King Charles’ Camp’ – with less than 48 hours to go until he is crowned at Westminster Abbey in the historic first Coronation for 70 years.

Patriotic campers swathed in Union Flags, stocked up with tinned all-day breakfasts, booze and bunting are settled in for Saturday – but some have been targeted by thieves stealing their tents and valuables when they need the toilet, MailOnline can reveal.

Away from The Mall, houses, streets and schools across the country are decked out in red, white and blue as they prepare to celebrate the new King. 

Royal fans from the UK and across the globe have descended on London with some sleeping on The Mall since the start of the week to get a prime spot close. On the route to Buckingham Palace today, MailOnline has met people from all over the UK and across the globe, including the United States, Canada and Commonwealth nations.

One couple jetted in from New Zealand for a trip that will cost them £5,000 and are camped near a group of women nicknamed ‘The Golden Girls’, who met for the first time at the Platinum Jubilee last year and agreed to reunite in the same spot for the Coronation.

Many are sleeping in tents – one man has had two stolen already – but some are just sleeping on the floor. With rain and thunder forecast in the coming days, many are likely to get very wet but vowed not to let Britain’s spring weather dampen their spirits. 

Londoner Tony Lown, 36, has taken his children and niece out of school this week so they can be in London for the Coronation. He has set up a table for them to do royal-related homework and will rely on a nearby McDonalds for hot meals over the coming days.

Army veteran Geoffrey York enjoyed an all-day breakfast in a tin this morning, costing £2.25, which includes baked beans, sausages, button mushrooms, chopped pork and egg nuggets with bacon burger pieces, all cooked up on a camping stove. 

‘Golden Girls’ (From left) Jessie Young, Margaret Tinsley, Eunice Hartstone, Elizabeth Couzens and Shirley Messinger pose for a photograph on The Mall today with their camping mugs. They met for the first time at the Platinum Jubilee and agreed to meet again for the Coronation

Denise Callegari, Paula Caurthers, Luanne Kail, all from the United States, have jetted in for the Coronation

Carol Shelley from Essex in her bijou tent

Royal fans wave on The Mall outside Buckingham Palace today as they set up in the so-called ‘King Charles’ Camp’ to get a prime spot ahead of the Coronation on Saturday

A Chelsea Pensioner enjoys a snack and a chat on the sunny Mall this morning

The King was back at Westminster Abbey again today, before heading back to the Palace

The Prince and Princess of Wales travel on London Underground’s Elizabeth Line in central London, on their way to visit the Dog & Duck pub in Soho to hear how it’s preparing for the coronation

A tailor works on a Tower of London Beefeater uniform, including the New CR III cypher, to be worn during the Coronation

The Kirby Estate in Southwark, South East London is decorated in flags and bunting to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III

Vast numbers flow up The Mall towards Buckingham Palace

Royal fans are seen on The Mall ahead of the coronation of King Charles III

Royal fans camped at The Mall with two days left until Charles is crowned

Lesley Warren from Kent is ready to celebrate, making tea for fellow campers on The Mall today

Bartley Graham poses with his cut-out of Britain’s King Charles

Army veteran Geoffrey York has set up camp on The Mall, surviving on tinned breakfasts while making tea and biscuits for other royal fans

Sally Scott and Julia Walker are really getting into the spirit as Coronation drama hits

Tony Lown, 36, is at The Mall with three children and his niece aged, all aged seven to 11, and has been there since Wednesday afternoon.

Patrick McCrossan, from West London, has been forced to sleep in his camping chair after having two tents stolen

Theresa D’souza, 72, and Betty Velgi, 79, enjoy a homemade smoked salmon and basil roll

Mother-of-two Claire Swift, from Wigan, Greater Manchester, who turns 68 tomorrow, brought her mother’s teddy to The Mall and admitted her family think she is ‘nuts’ for camping out

The sea of tents close to Buckingham Palace is being dubbed ‘King Charles’ Camp’

A makeshift altar is seen on the Mall outside Buckingham Palace ahead of the Coronation

Royal fan Bartly Graham with his lifesize cut-out of the King

Others tucked into into smoked salmon and basil rolls as they sat on camping chairs next to their tents.

Hot drinks were also being consumed – with one group of five royalists pictured with camping mugs as they stood next to the crowd barriers on the famous road.

Mr York, 69, said he has been making hot drinks for fellow campers and told MailOnline: ‘You can either sleep rough or come prepared.’ He also has a table with a box of sugar, camping mug and milk on the table in front of him – as well as an opened pack of digestives.

Theresa D’souza, 72, and Betty Velgi, 79, were seen enjoying a homemade smoked salmon and basil roll each.

And another woman had a military-style ration pack in the form of a £4 boil in the bag full English breakfast.

Meanwhile Jessie Young, Margaret Tinsley, Eunice Hartstone, Elizabeth Couzens, Shirley Messinger all posed for a photograph holding their hot drinks.

Nicknamed the ‘Golden Girls’, they met at the Platinum Jubilee last year and decided to get together again to be in London for Charles’ Coronation. 

Tony Lown, 36, is at The Mall with three children and his niece aged seven to 11, and has been there since Wednesday afternoon.

He told MailOnline: ‘It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing for them to see, it’s an experience. We came for the funeral.’

Asked what they had for breakfast, he said: ‘Pain au chocs (sic) at the minute’.

Mr Lown, of Croydon, South London, said he had taken the children out of school to be at The Mall. Asked how the school reacted, he said: ‘Well we haven’t heard nothing yet, so we’ll take it as it comes, you know.’

He said they had ‘loads of food and there’s a McDonald’s down the road’.

One royal watcher is just sleeping on the floor

Flags from all over the globe are being tied to the barriers to signify where people have come from, including the US and Canada

An ingenious hat topped by Charles and Camilla was worn by one woman today

A fan with a military-style ration pack in the form of a £4 boil in the bag full English breakfast

Elizabeth Couzens and Shirley Messinger show MailOnline their stash of food, drink and booze

Preparation for the Coronation of King Charles III

Dozens of people are already sleeping close to Buckingham Palace

A runner gives a thumbs up as he passed a tent in front of the New Zealand flag

There is a carnival atmosphere on The Mall today, with groups sharing food, drink and watching one another’s belongings if they need to pop to the loo or the shop.

But thieves are also robbing royal fans camped out with one victim having two tents stolen in 48 hours when he went to the toilet.

Patrick McCrossan, a Northern Irishman living in London, has been forced to sleep in his deck chair and told MailOnline that he is scared to go for a comfort break in case he is targeted again. He joked: ‘I’m not going to bathroom again.’

As well as losing two tents, Mr McCrossan’s £670 GoPro and various phone chargers were also stolen, despite The Mall currently being at the heart of the biggest security operation in British history with a record 11,500 police officers on duty in London this weekend.

He said that he is disgusted that criminals are using the Coronation as an ‘opportunity’ to steal from royal well-wishers.

‘I think that they must have overheard me saying about going to the toilet’, he told MailOnline.

Mr McCrossan said: ‘My stuff got stolen – twice. I’ve got no tent now. I had to buy two new chairs and my tents gone, twice. I couldn’t get it a third time.

Asked if he had told the police, he said: ‘No – I don’t see any cameras anywhere. I think what it was was there were some guys, some people milling around. I’ve been to so many of these events over the years – I thought it was alright to say that I’m only going to the toilet.

‘There were some that weren’t open, so I went up towards Green Park to go to the toilet up there and I thought that would be fine. And when I came back, they were gone. And I thought oh s***, someone’s gone off with my stuff.

‘My bag had phone chargers and all sorts of things in it and my GoPro. I bought my GoPro, £659, in March for my birthday and it was gone. I lost a lot of stuff. I’d got myself a GoPro for my birthday because I go to that many interesting places and see interesting things.’

Royal fan Joseph Afrane is celebrating the King

People have been camped on The Mall since the start of the week

Army veterans Geoff York and Gary Nolan are all set

A person takes a selfie with Bartley Graham

Bartley Graham sits with a cut-out of Britain’s King Charles

He continued: ‘If I get enough trust in people around me, even though they’ve just come, I think they’re alright – but I’ve just got to be sure I can go away and feel that I’m not going to come back and it would be all gone. I’d be tempted to go and get another tent as there’s one in Piccadilly.’

Mother-of-two Claire Swift, from Wigan, Greater Manchester, who turns 68 tomorrow, brought her mother’s teddy to The Mall and admitted her family think she is ‘nuts’ for camping out.

She told MailOnline today: ‘I said at Christmas I was going to come for the King’s Coronation and then it coincided with my birthday and I thought ‘great, why not’?

‘It’s the first occasion that I’ve been to and I’ve met these lovely people who’ve been coming to state occasions since Diana and Charles’s wedding. They’ve been coming to everything so they’re a dab hand with the rules and regulations and protocol of camping out. It’s been absolutely great.’

Asked what her family think of her camping out, she said: ‘I think they just think ‘it’s my mother, she’s nuts’. I’ve got two sons – one lives in Australia and one lives in Hale near Manchester.’

Ms Swift continued: ‘Last night I borrowed a yoga mat from (fellow camper) Faith because I lost my self-inflatable mattress. So we’re going to walk down to Argos later on to get a self-inflatable mattress. So hopefully I’ll have a better night’s sleep than last night.

‘But it was great – you could hear everybody outside, it was nice and cosy. Then this morning I woke up to somebody saying ‘good morning, are you awake, how did you sleep’? And it was BBC News.’

Ms Swift said had brought a treasured bear which once belonged to her mother who used to work in a hospice shop in Wigan.

She added: ‘When my mum died, it came to live with me, and he normally just sits on the sideboard. So when I was grabbing my bag yesterday to come down I just said to teddy ‘do you facing coming to the Coronation?’ And off he went in my bag and he’s here – he’s a bit shell-shocked because normally he has a very boring life.’

34-year-old Bartley Graham, who arrived at The Mall on Wednesday after discharging himself from hospital.

He has joined dozens of people gathered in front of the Palace ahead of the King’s Coronation, with tents set up to enable them to get a prime spot.

Mr Graham, from County Durham, said: ‘I should have been here earlier, but the hospital scenario made it impossible.

‘I self-discharged this morning purely so I could be here.

‘It’s important I’m here to get a good view of the procession, as I did for the Jubilee.

‘I came out for Prince Phillip’s funeral even though there was a risk I might be fined at the time.

‘I queued for 30 hours at Balmoral to see the Queen’s coffin a first time, and I queued 30 hours a second time at the Houses of Parliament.

‘Then I passed out and had a stroke, and all I could blame was exhaustion.

‘If it happens again, I’m in the right place, London’s hospitals are the best in the country.

‘I love being out here.’

Mr Graham came wearing a suit printed with Union Jacks and carrying a cardboard cut-out of Charles, who he thinks will be ‘a fantastic King’.

‘I like King Charles, and I definitely like Lady Camilla,’ he said.

‘Charles will be a fantastic King and will do a great job, he has some really strong values, and I think Lady Camilla has fallen into the role very well.’

Kerry Evans, 58, from Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, who also arrived at The Mall on Thursday said she ‘would rather die’ than miss the King’s Coronation.

‘I can’t camp out like I used to, I’ve got a heart condition and small vessel disease,’ she said.

‘Every time I come out to an event like this I end up in casualty, because I just exhaust myself, but I’ve really paced myself this time.

‘Nothing would stop me, I would rather die supporting the Royal Family than not be part of all this,’ she continued.

‘I’ll probably suffer for three or four months after an event like this.’

Ms Evans, who is a writer and a full-time carer, says that she hopes the King will be a champion for diversity.

‘The King is being very quiet at the minute, I think he’s waiting to see what people want,’ she said.

‘I hope he’ll be a strong King in terms of change and diversity, race, disability.’

Other fans of the Royal Family have travelled from further afield to see the coronation.

Carol Bush, 62, who comes from California but now lives in London, and Ardis Ryburg, 61, from Arkansas, came out to The Mall together ‘to support’ the late Queen.

‘We loved her, and she wanted her boy to do this, so we want to support her,’ Ms Bush said.

‘The Queen just gave and gave and gave, and really took her job as a monarch seriously.

‘We’re going to come back in 20 years for her grandson, we’ll be old in our wheelchairs and we’ll be here for William,’ she continued.

‘I can’t wait for the carriage, I want to see the golden carriage come back out again.’

Celebrations for the King’s coronation will take place over the course of this weekend.

The ceremony itself will take place in Westminster Abbey on Saturday, with the Coronation Big Lunch and Coronation Concert happening on Sunday.

Members of the public have been encouraged to take part in The Big Help Out on Bank Holiday Monday by volunteering for organisations in their local areas.

The first glimpses of the Coronation procession seen during a rehearsal overnight have given an insight into what the pageantry will look like and who will be involved. 

The procession returning to Buckingham Palace down The Mall which feature the Gold State Coach centre stage – where King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla will sit as they are greeted by crowds. 

Some royal super fans waiting for the Coronation have already been camped near Buckingham Palace for nearly a week ahead of the big day on Saturday.